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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26205718">Don't Speak and I'll Pretend Not to Hear</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capesandshapes/pseuds/Capesandshapes'>Capesandshapes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Oblivious</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:01:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,735</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26205718</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capesandshapes/pseuds/Capesandshapes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Faced with the inevitability of Adrien and Kagami getting together, Marinette decided that she needed some time apart from the blond in order to properly move on. Since then, he hasn't been able to get her off his mind, even as Kagami begs him to define what they really are. Going against the wishes of that tiny voice in his head that tells him otherwise, Adrien ends up going to Marinette's balcony as Chat to figure out his emotions.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>294</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was wrong; Adrien knew that yet he was still there. Marinette had told him, her voice light and her eyes kind, that she just needed some space, that it wasn’t anything he had done but she needed some time apart from him. And a month ago, he agreed. It just so happened that now that time had passed, that time felt like decades had passed.</p><p>He didn’t know why she was upset, he wasn’t sure what had changed between the two of them, but he had agreed, and that should have been that. Maybe with his other friends that would have truly been that, maybe with Nino and Alya he’d have it in him to give them the space that they desired, but there was something about Marinette. There was <em> always </em>something about Marinette.</p><p>He couldn’t explain it, only a few years ago he’d barely even known her. Somehow since then she’d dominated his life, and he couldn’t go a day without thinking about her.  Every Akuma attack, every school project, every lunchtime that he avoided looking at that damn empty spot; there she was in the back of his mind. She was treasured more than the average friend, but the reason why was never really one that he could elaborate. All he knew that when he was around her, he knew that everything would always work out.</p><p>The worst thing about Marinette was that the more that he needed her, the longer it seemed that she was gone. Kagami had told him last month that he needed to decide what they were, she couldn’t keep waiting on him to decide what they were. The pain was evident on her face, he could see how close her heart was to tearing apart, but still, the one thing on his mind was…</p><p>“Marinette,” he spoke her name as she finally walked out onto her balcony, the lanterns that hung from her canopy illuminating her small frame. She placed her sketchbook on a small table and withdrew pencils from the bag on her shoulders as Adrien watched, unaware that the boy that she was avoiding was so close. Slowly she set up her workspace, obviously unbothered by the dull lighting and frequent wind that the night offered as she began to sketch images that he could barely make out from afar. A dress, maybe, he couldn’t see enough of the lines to be sure.</p><p>  Watching her was enough for a while. He’d caught glimpses of her on his solo patrols, and that seemed to satisfy him then. But tonight was different; tonight he would have not spoken to her for a month, tonight Kagami demanded an answer, tonight-- god, he missed her. He missed her so much. An anxious part of him worried that this was the beginning of the end, that he’d never get to have Marinette’s shy smiles and tinkling laughter belong to him again. It scared him that that mattered more than hurting Kagami. Kagami deserved a real answer, she deserved her first kiss given by the man she loved. But Adrien? He was sure that he didn’t deserve it, but he desperately wanted Marinette’s friendship.</p><p>“Fancy seeing you here, Princess,” slips out, he doesn’t know why he says it or how he had unconsciously made his way to the Dupain-Cheng rooftop but suddenly he’s there, balanced carefully on the guardrails just feet away from Marinette. “Hope you don’t mind if I drop in.”</p><p>She blinked at first, a look of surprise on her face as she picked her pencil up from the page and looked to him, evidently she hadn’t been expecting company. “Chat?” She asked.</p><p>“Of course,” he replied, attempting a lazy stretch as he stepped down from the railing, walking towards her. “Why, do you get any other late-night balcony visitors?” He asked, mock concern in his voice.</p><p>“No, I just haven’t seen you for a while,” she smiled, almost radiating a warmth that only she seemed capable of possessing. Tucking her pencil behind her ear, she stood up from her seat and moved to him, the look never leaving her face. </p><p>“Well, you know me, always busy keeping Paris safe, patrolling the streets, and winning over the heart of my lady,” he pretended to ignore the snort and eye roll she gave him in response, playfully stating, “it’s a fulltime gig, you really have to try it sometime.”</p><p>“Right, well, I’ll add risking my life and dressing in spandex right to the top of my to do list,” Marinette replied, a hint of a laugh at the end of her sentence. “If you’re so busy with all of that, then what are you doing here, kitty? I highly doubt protecting Paris allows for vacation days.”</p><p>“Oh it doesn’t,” Adrien replied, “honestly, the benefits package this offers is pawsitively pathetic. But this? This is my lunch break.”</p><p>“Lunchbreak?”</p><p>“I know it’s a bit late but, looking out at Paris, sitting with a pretty girl, and eating croissants; it’s a good lunch, isn’t it?” An unamused expression responded to him, causing him to sigh and admit, “Okay, maybe it’s not lunch; maybe I just wanted to see you.” Seeing that her response did not change, he finally admitted a little bit more, “maybe I just wanted to see you and get your advice.”</p>
<hr/><p>She led him from the rooftop into her room, her hand locked around his as he, for some reason, felt a little nervous entering her room once more. It was a further invasion of her privacy, entering her space when she didn’t know it was him. She didn’t want to see Adrien and now here he was, in her room, forcing his way into her life once more. </p><p>“You’ve redecorated,” he noted, lead dropping in his stomach as he moved to examine her walls. There was no more Adrien, his photos being replaced with her friends instead. Luka beamed from one of them, his arm around Marinette’s waist in a way that made them look almost like a couple. <em> Almost </em>. He supposed they were caught in the same limbo he’d found himself in with Kagami.</p><p>“I thought I should start putting up photos of my friends,” she replied, her hand on the railing to the steep staircase that led up to her bed. With a nod of her head she gestured for him to follow her.</p><p>“Is that all of them?” he asked carefully, still distracted by the photos.</p><p>“Well, no, I still need to take a few with Max and Kim, and I only have one photo of Nino…” She trailed off, then seemed to regain her focus once more. Once again, her head gestured to go upstairs as she explained, “I’m a little tired, you don’t mind if--”</p><p>“No, of course not,” he hurriedly replied. </p><p>“I won’t fall asleep,” she promised him as he approached as if he needed any reassurance. Marinette always gave her all for her friends, he couldn’t imagine any less from her.</p><p>“I believe you,” he said, his voice a bit softer as another pang hit him. Maybe it was worse to come to see her as Chat, it only seemed to make him miss her even more. “You know, I don’t really have anyone else to talk about this sort of thing with,” he admitted as she allowed herself to fall onto her bed. “I mean, I have friends, but…”</p><p>“It’s okay, I understand,” Marinette replied, patting the space beside her on the bed to indicate that it was okay for Chat to sit down. “I have this best friend, her name’s Alya and you’ve definitely met her a few times, she runs the Ladyblog. She’s positive about absolutely everything, she really believes in me. Sometimes we disagree, but...she wants everything for me, and I’m just afraid that I’ve already screwed up too much to get what I really want. I don’t want to disappoint her or offend her but…”</p><p>“You’re sure that every bit of advice she tells you is just impossible,” Adrien replied, thinking of Nino and how he told him that everything would be easy once he really thought about things. Unbeknownst to Nino, Adrien had thought about nothing but Kagami and Marinette lately.</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>Rather than sitting, Adrien allowed himself to collapse on the best beside her. “It’s easy to talk to you, Marinette.”</p><p>She smiled and turned on her side to face him in response. It struck him how nice she looked laying down, strands of hair from her pigtail bangs cascading over the side of her face. Kagami was right when she said Marinette was beautiful.</p><p>He cleared his throat, brushing the thought out of his head. It was time, he supposed, he couldn’t put it off any longer. “There’s this girl…” he began, though he almost didn’t know which girl he was talking about. It was hard to think about Kagami when Marinette was right there.</p><p>“There’s always a girl,” she replied, her smile growing wider.</p><p>“Yeah, well, this one is… she’s….” What was Kagami? How could he do her justice? “Well, she’s everything, you know? She’s perfect. If I had to make a list of everything a guy like me should want, then the resulting girl would be her. She’s well mannered, determined, smart, kind, bold; She’s everything, and it’s great because she wants me.”</p><p>“And she’s not Ladybug,” Marinette supplemented the important part.</p><p>“She’s not,” Adrien confirmed. “She’s definitely not Ladybug,” his face fell a little at the admission. “But she still wants me, and I like being around her. I mean, I like being her friend and I have fun every time I’m with her.”</p><p>“But she wants more than that.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Adrien confirmed, “she does.”</p><p>“And you…?”</p><p>“And I…” And he what? What was the problem? What was stopping him? “I recently lost a friend,” it stung to say it. </p><p>“Oh,” was all Marinette could say.</p><p>Adrien nodded in response, “I can’t get her out of my mind, it seems like every other thought is her. She said I didn’t do anything but I--” he stopped himself, not wanting to say too much and reveal his true identity. It was dangerous to even bring her up. </p><p>“You still feel like you did,” Marinette supplemented.</p><p>“I feel like I’ve done something awful,” Adrien swallowed, “and now I feel like I can’t give the first girl anything, not what she deserves. I can’t get my mind off my friend and so I can’t tell that girl whether I want to be with her or not, because my head is so full of my friend that I just can’t think--”</p><p>“You’re in love with her,” Marinette summarised.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Marinette reached toward him, wrapping her hand around his arm as the cat turned his whole body to look at her, his eyes wide in a mollified state. Seeming to understand his shock, Marinette held onto his forearm to keep him from turning over and repeated,  “you’re in love with her.”</p><p>“I am not--” Adrien began, not finding it the slightest bit odd that he immediately knew who she was talking about. Marinette couldn’t just say that he was in love with her, not when the her in question was, in fact, actually her, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. That was insane, there was no way that she’d recognize it so easily instead of him. He would know if he was in love with her!</p><p>“You are!” Marinette replied, a small bit of excitement under her voice, “you’re in love with your friend, and that’s why you can’t stop thinking about her!”</p><p>“I’ve lost a friend--”</p><p>“So, you can’t think once about your potential girlfriend?” Marinette replied, her grin stretching from ear to ear as Adrien gaped in response. </p><p>“I.. She… How would you know that?” Adrien sputtered, pulling back further away from her on the bed. Suddenly any distance felt too close to be to Marinette.  “You can have friends that you think about sometimes, you know. How would you know whether I’m in love or not?”</p><p>Marinette’s face faltered and Adrien felt a shock of panic. She seemed capable of keeping up her smile for a moment, but then it faded away all too quickly. A shuddering breath resounded through her body and Arien found himself moving closer to her once more, his free hand landing on her shoulder in a comforting squeeze.</p><p>“Marinette…”</p><p>“You should be happy,” Marinette began again, her voice unsteady but attempting to still hold the same positivity as before. “Now you know, so that should make things…”</p><p>“Easier?” Adrien supplemented, uncertain. “But, they’re not.”</p><p>“No,” Marinette agreed, misery growing in her voice, “they’re not.”</p><p>Adrien’s arms wrapped around her, his head resting on top of hers as he brought her into his chest, his mind still trying to process his own possibilities. Her arms wrapped around his neck, bring herself in even closer as she tucked her head into his shoulder. The smell of fresh baked goods became stronger as she was closer, and he found himself inhaling the scent as she stayed beside him.</p><p>“Can I tell you something?” She didn’t wait for him to nod, she just began to speak. “I don’t think I’m okay, Kitty.” His hands tightened around her, and she continued, “I did something last month, and I just… Don’t feel good.”</p><p>“It’s okay.”</p><p>“It’s not,” she pulled back from him, allowing him to see her face. Distress was evident, tears threatening to fall from their pools at the corner of her eyes. She wouldn’t cry, he knew that she wouldn’t cry because she had never done so in front of him. But the threat that those possessed felt like too much. “Chat, I think I really hurt someone.”</p><p>“It’s alright,” he knew, of course, he knew. Marinette didn’t just go around causing trouble; it had to be him. </p><p>“It’s not, it’s really not, it’s selfish.”</p><p>“You’re allowed to be selfish.”</p><p>“Not this selfish, not to him,” Marinette replied, grimacing. “He’s so excited to be my friend and spend time with me. I cut him out of my life and I shouldn’t have.”</p><p>“Well, you can take it back, you can fix it,” Adrien insisted.</p><p>“I can’t,” she stated. “I really really can’t.” Seeing that he did not fully understand, she pulled back entirely so he could see her, her eyes wide and her face serious as she stated, “I want to, Alya says I have to, but I can’t.” A gulp of air, she continued, speaking almost too quickly, “I told Alya that it was all going to be fine, that I was going to fall in love with someone else and it will all go away, but it’s not. I can’t even look him in the eyes anymore.”</p><p>“I’m not understanding,” Adrien began, almost wishing she would speak slower so his thoughts could finally catch up to what was being said.</p><p>“And Alya just keeps saying that she’s not going to watch me throw away my life for someone else’s happiness, that I deserve him, that-- that--” He wished he could put a finger to her lips and stem the words from flowing, that he could tell her that he heard things that he definitely should not hear. “That I should tell Adrien that I’m in love with him!” Things that he should definitely. Not. Hear. </p><p>“That you should tell Adrien that you’re in love with him,” he repeated, his grip completely loosening as he practically lept back from her on the bed, his eyes wide and breath hitched. “You’re in love with Adrien?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Another two parter! I'm thinking about doing a longer onesided reveal fic in the future, but we'll see.<br/>If you like my writing and you want to see more, feel free to drop a request in my ask box at https://capesandshapes.tumblr.com/ask, where I will try to be as active as possible in fulfilling them. All of my fanfiction will be posted to my Tumblr and Archive of Our Own, so stay tuned!.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Yes!” She paused, “I mean no! I mean-- Sort of?” Marinette began to ramble once more, her hands flying as she attempted to explain the situation to Adrien, her face turning a vivid ruby. “I’m trying to fix it, I mean that’s what this is supposed to do. I thought that if I didn’t talk to him for a while that these feelings would go away, maybe I’d fall in love with someone else.” She grimaced, her hand balling up in her hair as she pushed her bangs away from her face. “But that’s not happening! It’s like you and your friend, I can’t stop thinking about him, even if I don’t say a word to him!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s how you know that I’m in love with her,” Adrien summarized, his mouth still hanging a little bit agape. “But how long have you been in love with him? You were in love with me once, right? So then how long have you been in love with…?” He trailed off, struggling to say his own name once again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no way that this could have happened, there was no way that Marinette was in love with him. Not the real him anyway. If he had known… Then what? What would he do? His heart was so tight at the moment that it felt like suffocation.</span>
</p><p><span>“Since almost the second day that I knew him.”</span><span><br/>
</span> <span>“The umbrella,” Adrien breathed, almost immediately regretting it.</span></p><p>
  <span>“The what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It then dawned on Adrien once again what a truly awful idea this was. There were a million different places that he should be now, but in the bed of Marinette Dupain-Cheng was not one of them. He was supposed to be giving her space, he was supposed to be thinking of what to tell Kagami, and he was supposed to be letting her fall out of love with him. But now? He couldn’t bring himself to do any of that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The umbrella,” he began again, taking in how her shoulder rose with a nervous breath in response. He swallowed, hoping that he was at good at lying in real life as he was in his head, “he told me about it, I sorta visit him just like I do you. The only problem is, he just can’t stop talking about you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He can’t stop talking about me?” She asked, her lips parted slightly and her face pulled into a stunned expression that was just so Marinette. He’d seen her look like that before nearly every time he’d talked to her, but he never realized how much he truly missed it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Never. It’s always Marinette this, Marinette that.” His tongue ran across his lips as he tried to think, Marinette’s eager eyes obviously expecting more out of him. The worst thing was that it wasn’t a lie, not really, he spoke an almost comical amount about Marinette now that he thought about it. God, how long had he been in love with her? “That day in the rain, he told me that he was so happy to be your friend and that you’re an important person to him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He said that?” She asked, her voice wavering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He said more than just that, Princess,” Adrien said, his mind whirring with all the things that he wanted to tell her as Chat. It was easier this way, working out his emotions and what she meant to him. There were things that Adrien just couldn’t say to her, not know, but Chat could. “He told me that he’s proud to be your friend. You’re one of the bravest people he knows, and somehow you also managed to be the most compassionate as well. You’re smart, talented, kind, capable, modest, understand, beautiful--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her nose scrunched at the last one, her voice flatlining as she replied, “You’re lying. You’re worried that I’ll get akumatized, so you’re lying to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would never lie to you, Marinette.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He doesn’t think I’m beautiful,” she replied, rolling onto her back. “Compared to models? No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adrien got onto his forearms and leaned into her view, a look painted across his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette brushed him off despite it, rolling her eyes as she stated, “you need to stop, kitty. You’re going to get my head full of all of these ideas, and then where will I be? Back at square one. When you tell me things like that and say that Adrien said them, then I’m right back where I started again, in love with him.” She frowned, turning her head away from him, “I can’t keep doing this; he’s in love with Kagami.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>He’s not</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Adrien bolted upright with his admission, staring at her from above as he sat beside her. “I think it’s hard for him to admit to her, maybe even to himself, but I know that he’s not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Chat, stop,” her eyes had grown cold as she sat up to meet him, he vermouth pulled in a thin line.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He missed you--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So much--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Chat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Marinette, listen!” He sighed, finding her wrists as she began to burrow her hands in her hair once more. Was it supposed to be this hard to tell someone you loved them?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She exhaled, her hands lowering as she began to calm herself. She quickly attempted to explain herself, “I don’t want you to tell me how he feels, kitty. I don’t want anyone else to tell me how he feels. This whole time I’ve been hearing from everyone else how he feels, how he was definitely looking at me and for sure has a ‘thing’ for me. But that’s not right, I need to hear it from him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His eyes closed in a slow, catlike blink before he replied, his mind running through the hundreds of scenarios in which he could tell her. “Then you will, I promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can't make that kind of promise."</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m sorry. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He’d sent the message to Kagami last night, and though she responded with understanding, it still didn’t feel great. Still, it was the least nerve-wracking part of things he supposed, and now he’d moved onto the most.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Waiting for Marinette was different than texting Kagami, somehow far more nerve-wracking than it was supposed to be. He’d waited the whole school day for her to talk to him in hopes of an easy out, but that had not quite come, not even with the added help of his text to her, </span>
  <em>
    <span>we need to talk</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Every single opportunity had been wasted, all because he wanted her to move first. Now, having run out of chances, he had rushed to her locker and blocked the way. What he hadn’t anticipated, however, was just how long Marinette was willing to camp out in the classroom to avoid him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hallway had long grown quiet, Alya and Nino having waved goodbye to hi with a mutual declaration of </span>
  <em>
    <span>dude, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and even Chloe having lost patience for an endless supply of Adrikins time if that meant staying at school much longer. There was no way Marinette could hold out for much longer; she had to go home at some point. When she did, he’d be right there, ready.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe you should give up,” Plagg tried for the umpteenth time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you’ve been waiting for hourssssss. If you wait any longer then you’re dad’s going to be mad, and you’ll be back under house arrest again, just like before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s coming.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe she’s not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told you, she’s coming,” Adrien snapped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Plagg opened his mouth to speak, likely attempting to reason with Adrien once more. Before he could do that, light footsteps began to echo down the hallway. The kwami frowned, remind the boy, “remember, you owe me camembert for this,” before zooming into his hiding place in Adrien’s pocket.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adrien blinked, his chest growing tighter as the footsteps grew closer. It was her, he knew that it had to be her. At this point there was hardly anyone else in the school; it was Marinette or bust. But still, a small, nervous part of him hoped that it wasn’t.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Marinette,” he called, his voice light and uncertain. A small gasp responded to him, the noise of her shoes walking towards him stopped entirely. Encouraged by that, he tried again, his voice sounding a little more confident as he called, “Marinette,” once more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A beat, and then he heard the sound of… her running away? No sooner had he heard the telltale sound of her ballet flats taking off in the other direction than he began to run himself, leaving his backpack outside Marinette’s locker. She was not making things easy at all, dear god was she fast.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The nice part was that she wasn’t able to get far before she tripped, nerves having affected her sense of balance and knocking her down with the first turn. The not so nice part was that, having taken off at full speed and fallen victim to the same corner, Adrien slid right into her and landed on top of her. Marinette looked dazed below him, and Adrien felt a momentary hint of pity. Momentary. As soon as it left, he placed his hands to either side of her, effectively trapping her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop running,” he demanded in between pants, wondering how an ordinary girl had almost outrun a Parisian superhero.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t say that you’re not, I just chased you,” he breathed. “We’re ending this. We are stopping this right now; you have to talk to me, Marinette. I can’t do it anymore.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t either,” she admitted, “I… I miss you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I miss you too,” his voice cracked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But I can’t do this anymore, Adrien,” she replied. There were no hints of joy on her face, she didn’t want to do it. But in her mind, this was the only way. She couldn’t chase after Adrien forever, and she couldn’t manage a friendship where she was hopeless in love with the other person. This was how it was supposed to be. “Adrien, I can’t be your friend anymore.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Was it supposed to hurt that much when she said it? Was everything supposed to come crashing down the way it did? Maybe he’d changed her mind the other night; perhaps in just confronting her with the idea of Adrien saying those things about her, he’d broken the illusion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t make sense, but I can’t keep doing this to you or myself. You deserve a real friend.” Had she planned this speech? “I know that you care about me so much, and that’s what makes this hurt more. I don’t want to do this, but this is the right thing to do.” She took a moment to compose herself, “Adrien, I’m sorry, I’m in love with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was different hearing from her when she knew it was him, somehow more showstopping. Every as she began to tearfully explain, his mind still hung onto those words. Yes, he’d expected them, but like this? Never like this. She likely expected this to end their friendship, maybe that he’d be upset or something of the sort. But it didn’t, of course it didn’t, because there he was, madly in love with her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And there she was, still talking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She grew silent as his forehead pressed against hers, his face so close that his breath intermingled with hers.”I don’t think we should be friends either,” he admitted, absorbing the way that her eyes tightly closed and her skin blossomed beneath him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“O-oh.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” he echoed, his lips hovering just above hers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“W-Why is that?” She managed to mutter, her eyes just barely opening to look into his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I love you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How long had she dreamed of that moment? Did she ever think it would happen? Her lips didn’t respond to his just barely brushing against hers, but her arms did. They locked around his neck, her head quickly burying in his shoulder as she held him tightly. His arms wrapped around her torso in response, cradling her closer to him as he pressed a small kiss to the side of her neck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you get it?” He asked as he sat up, a slight chuckle very evident in his voice. “I can’t be your friend anymore, either.” After a moment, he playfully asked, “but if I’m not your friend, then what would I be now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette snorted in response, pulling away from him. Slight tears clung in the corners of her eyes as she looked at him, but a large smile was painted across her face as she jokingly stated, “the worst.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not exactly the title I was looking for,” Adrien admitted with a grin as he leaned forward to wipe the tears out of her eyes with the side of his thumb, “I think I’ll settle for boyfriend instead.” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>That's all, folks!<br/>If you like my writing and you want to see more, feel free to drop a request in my ask box at https://capesandshapes.tumblr.com/ask, where I will try to be as active as possible in fulfilling them. All of my fanfiction will be posted to my Tumblr and Archive of Our Own, so stay tuned!.</p><p>Extra note: It's recently been brought to my attention that my posts don't always show up in the tags on Tumblr, and that Tumblr isn't planning to do anything about it. If you like my fanfiction then AO3 will probably always be the best place to get it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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